20in vs 18in wheels

I am probably going to get some aftermarket wheels and am trying to decide between 18's and 20's. Truck came with 18's. I do tow a car and trailer fairly regularly. Off roading will be minimal. Mostly pavement only. The wheels I am looking at says the 20's are 1 pound lighter than the 18's which doesn't make sense but that's what it says on their website. Don't want to make my mpg or towing capabilities worse really. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

My truck also came factory with 18” wheels. I bought it used and previous owner installed a set of 20”XD Monster rims and BFG KO2 tires. Let me tell you, they weigh a freakin ton!!

Looking into going back to factory wheel size. I’m getting 15 mpg right now. Maybe lighter wheel/tire set up will help.

 

Weights vary due to the materials used and how they are manufactured. You'll have to take into consideration the different tires since they all vary as well. I think my OE 20" tire with Michelin LTX M/S2 in OE size weighs about 80 lbs each corner.

 

For my two cents, i'd prefer 18's. My Tundra came with factory 20's so when I upgraded I stayed with that size more for the look of 20's. Now that it's been awhile I wish I would have gone the 18" route because i'm a bigger fan of seeing more meaty looking tires on a truck and I think it would be a softer ride. Obviously it depends on what all your looking for, i'm sure the handling is a little better but I would think you could accomplish that more with rear sway bar or stiffer suspension. Not a pro here, that's just my opinion. Good luck on your decision.

 

Forgot to mention I do have the TRD front and rear sway bars also.

 

I had 20s and 35s on my first tundra and now 18s and 33s. Weight of the wheel and road force are a factor. I don’t notice a difference In cushiness fwiw. I would go with the 17s bead lock and 35s or 34.5 if doing over again, but I hear it’s hard to fit 17s with our brake calipers. Perhaps someone else can weigh in.

 

I bought 18s from someone selling them off their TRD amd sold the 20s off of my platinum. The reason was primarily for driving on the beach. The factory tires on 20s did just fine. I didn’t notice anything different in terms of a ride. I did notice it’s harder for the new drivers to put curb rash on the 18s because of the larger sidewalls.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if they designed the 20” wheel to be a little lighter. Which wheel is it? Are the max loads different?

 

All in what you like. I personally like the looks of 20s but I also do no off roading and what I tow is only about 5000 pounds. Weight is a huge factor for me though. Regardless of size. I want to replace my tss wheels with something lighter. They will still be 20s though.

 

Load capacity is the same 2400lbs. 20in is 38lbs and 18in is 39 lbs. I think I would rather have 20in wheels but not if it's going to affect towing power or mpg's.

 

I tow an Airstream on stock 20s and KO2s and it's lovely. I've considered aftermarket 18s and KO2s but I'm scared to mess with a good thing.